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We've just experienced a war with Iraq. Every single
death of a serviceman or woman has been reported world-wide, in details
that affect, not only their immediate families but everyone who hears
the news. Today, it seems absolutely incredible to us that nearly 1000
of those lively
young men, who came to Devon when the Americans joined the war in
Europe, should die here - off our coast - on a training operation called
Exercise Tiger. Even
more incredible is the fact that most people in this country knew nothing of their deaths
for almost half a century. |
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The tank memorial at Torcross
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Ken Small, who led the retrieval of this
amphibious tank
from the sea off Slapton Beach in 1984, wrote a book about Exercise Tiger
called "The Forgotten Dead" which is published in paperback by
Bloomsbury. His book includes a listing of all the American casualties
he has so far identified - no easy task because it involved breaking
into the ring of secrecy which has surrounded this incident since it occurred.
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Slapton beach |
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On June 6th 1944, American troops landed on the coast of
France at two Normandy beaches code-named "Utah" and
"Omaha". It was the culmination of a highly complex military
operation involving millions of American, British and Commonwealth
soldiers. Operation Overlord, the so-called D-Day landings, was the
turning point of the war in Europe which ended in June the following
year.
The Americans put months of effort into the training of
the assault
troops who would carry out these landings. The place they chose for this
purpose was Slapton beach here in Devon because it so closely resembled
Utah beach, north of Carentan on the French coast. |
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Torcross c. 1950 with Slapton Ley
behind the houses
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| In 1943, tens of thousands of troops began to move
into the district. The first arrivals were billeted
with local people for miles around but then, a decision was made to use live ammunition
to train the men under battle conditions. |
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This would include aerial strafing and artillery
bombardment so, with six week's warning, 3000 people were evacuated from
their houses and farms. By Christmas 1943, everyone, together with farm
animals, pets, agricultural machinery and furniture, had gone to
emergency accommodation, some moving as far away as Dartmoor.
The evacuated area took in the 8-mile stretch of beach from
Strete to Torcross and went inland for about 10 miles, taking in the
villages of Torcross, Stokenham, Sherford, Chillington, East Allington,
Blackawton*, Slapton* and all the places in between. |
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Church Lane, Slapton. c. 1898
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| *Villages with Stentiford connections |
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